TPDoEQ, vol II: The Egypt Chronicle
by Lady Norbert
Summary: All for Egypt was the call at the end of the first Private Diary. Elizabeth Quatermain continues to document the League's exploits in the land of the pharaohs.
1. Sleepless Night

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**20 September 1899**

As is so often the case, one of my friends has done me a great courtesy today. Only last night, after writing of our travel plans, I was disappointed to realize I had reached the end of my diary's pages. As the _Nautilus_ is to depart these waters today for the shores of Egypt, I had reluctantly accepted the prospect of going without a new one until we reach Cairo -- if, indeed, one could be purchased even there.

This morning I was discharged from the infirmary; Henry says that, in body at least, I am fully recovered from my recent misadventures. I returned here to my quarters, and almost the first thing to greet my eyes was this new book of fresh pages! The inside cover is stamped with the name and address of a stationer's shop here in Paris, which means the purchase must have been very recent. My anonymous benefactor further gifted me with a fine new pen and inkstand, and all three items have now been put to their first use. No note accompanied the present, so I cannot say for certain to whom I am thus indebted -- though I could hazard a guess. I am almost positive it is one of two people, but which of the two is a mystery.

In any event, I will of course be certain to thank the giver at this evening's meal. I have thanks enough to dispense already, so when I conclude my remarks, I will mention the gift and offer my thanks to the relevant party. I shall be careful in my phrasing to avoid any embarrassment, should the giver wish to remain nameless.

I should set aside this diary now and attend to my herbarium. I have been in the infirmary for well over a week, and though I doubt not that Nemo will have thought to have one of his men look after my plants during my confinement (are all ships' captains so marvellously kind and considerate? I find it very difficult to reconcile the Nemo I know with the pirate of infamy), I am eager to resume the task myself. When I lived in London, the care and use of my herb garden was among my chief pleasures, and it still remains one of my favourite tasks.

* * *

**21 September 1899**

It is morning, and we have lately completed breakfast. I have some time to myself in which I can detail the events of last night. It started out most disagreeably, but ended on a rather pleasant note.

Throughout the afternoon, I was able to keep busy both within my quarters and outside of them. I spent an hour or so fussing over my herbs, then joined Mina in her laboratory for the first of her promised lessons in chemistry. (Later today I am to begin to give her the lessons which I promised in exchange.) I did a bit of reading in the library and joined the others for a good supper. All in all, it was a pleasant day.

Then I came back here, to my room. I went through my usual routine to prepare for bed, enjoying the luxury of a bath for the first time in several days and donning a fresh nightdress before evening prayers. My only deviation from the norm was that I did not put my hair into its customary braid; my scalp is still somewhat tender from the blow to the head I received some days ago, and it will be a few days yet before I will be able to style my hair at all.

But once I was in bed, with nothing more to occupy my attention, I am sorry to say that de Gaulle's words returned to haunt me once again.

_"Have you thought you were alone in the darkness of your room, little sister? Did you believe you were safe?"_

His invisible cohort was in here with me, at times when I had thought myself alone. What had he seen? Had he watched me undress? Bathe? Sleep? It was unbearable to contemplate.

_But he is dead_, I reminded myself sternly. In the warehouse, Skinner intervened before the faceless one could take certain liberties with my person, and then Tom killed him. I am safe now. Only one invisible man remains aboard the _Nautilus_, and he would rather die himself than allow me to come to harm -- my dear, devoted friend.

Nevertheless, and in spite of this infallible logic, I could not sleep. I left my bed and drew on my warmest dressing-gown, then slipped from the room and made my way to the portal leading to the deck. I climbed the ladder and, with a bit of difficulty, pushed open the door to step outside.

The moon was brilliant on the water. The ocean rippled softly in the silver glow; France was already beyond view, and nothing could be seen for miles except the grey-black gleam of the waves. I leaned against the railing, smelling the sea and letting the breeze play with my hair. There was something very soothing about it all.

I lapsed into a reverie for some time, admiring the night and the moon on the water. How long I was there I do not know, but I was so deep in thought that I failed to notice I wasn't alone until I heard an amused Cockney accent.

"You know, I would have thought you'd learned your lesson about being alone on the deck with an invisible man."

I turned, startled, and couldn't suppress a smile when I spotted Skinner. "I don't expect you to pick me up and toss me over."

He regarded me with an expression I could not interpret, mainly because his face was partially obscured by shadow. Then he crossed the deck to stand beside me at the rail. "Lovely evening."

It was such an odd remark, and he sounded so awkward when he said it, that I could not help but laugh. "It is, at that."

"What brings you up here?"

"What brings you up here?"

"I asked you first."

This was inarguable, so I told him about the uneasiness I'd experienced in my room. He had been present for that particular speech of de Gaulle's, which meant I hardly needed to explain what had caused my discomfort. "I know it's silly of me," I concluded, "but I can't help it, anymore than I can help regretting all that happened."

At first he said nothing, only nodded. Then he asked, "Do you regret all of it?"

"Well...most of it. I can hardly be sorry that de Gaulle sent me the letter, because without it I wouldn't be here now. And I am pleased to have gotten the chance to see Paris and Notre Dame, and to now be on my way to Egypt. No, I don't regret everything. But there are a lot of things that are to be regretted." I rested my chin on my hands, staring at the water. "Mostly, I regret that all of you were put in danger on my account. And I'll always regret that I had to kill someone, even if it was to save you and Tom."

"The first one is always the hardest."

"I should hope to God it doesn't get easier, or people would be killing each other all the time."

That was perhaps the closest I have ever come to being angry with any of the League. I think Skinner understood what I meant, though, because he put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Bess, we've all done it. All of us in the League -- we've all had to take a life in the course of events. It's not fun, and it's not easy, but at times it's been necessary. For your sake, I hope you never have to do it again."

We regarded the ocean in silence for a bit. Looking for a way to relieve the tension, and remembering our earlier banter, I asked, "So, what did bring you up here?"

"I've never been able to resist the urge to chat up a pretty girl by moonlight," he quipped. I laughed.

"You're impossible."

"True," he admitted. The unease between us vanished.

The door behind us opened, and Tom stepped onto the deck. "I thought I heard voices," he said, looking mildly surprised. "What are you two doing up here?"

"Nothing much," I said. I was suddenly very conscious of my appearance, and I pulled my dressing-gown as tightly closed at the throat as I could.

"Good one, Tom. I was about to take advantage of the romantic setting to ask Bess to marry me, and now you've spoiled the mood." Skinner sighed dramatically. "Another time, I suppose. Best to leave you kids alone for now." He caught my free hand and kissed it with mock gallantry, then nodded good night to Tom and left through the still-open door.

"He's so absurd sometimes," I said, shaking my head and smiling. Tom joined me at the rail, looking out over the ripples of moonlight. He had a strange frown on his features which I found unsettling.

"You know," I said, more to change the subject than anything, "I can't help thinking of my former teacher and schoolmates." I had told Tom some of my school memories during my days in the infirmary. "Can you imagine how scandalized they would be if they could see me now? Here I am, in my nightclothes, on the deck of a submarine with two eligible bachelors and no chaperone in sight!"

The agitation left Tom's face as he chuckled. "Society types are always so fussy and uptight about those things -- present company excepted, of course," he added. "I never understood it, myself. Back home in Missouri, we're a lot less formal. We don't get chaperoned much when we're courting; if a boy wants to be alone with a girl, he usually asks to walk her home from church on Sunday. But I do have to admit, I don't think I've ever stood around with a girl in her nightdress before." I hope the darkness concealed how red my face was undoubtedly turning.

"On the whole, these are peculiar circumstances for either of us," I agreed. "I do believe my whole world has turned upside down more than once in the weeks since my father died."

We were quiet for a minute. Then he asked, seriously, "Are you sorry? That it's turned upside down, I mean."

Quite determined not to repeat the conversation I'd just had with Skinner, I contemplated the question. "No," I said finally. "Certainly there are things I would have liked to change about these recent events. I never would have wished to see you or the others come to harm or danger as you have. But on the whole, my time aboard the _Nautilus _has been the happiest of my life."

We talked about that for a while. The truth of the matter is that, since dear Aunt Adelaide passed away a few years ago, I have been rather lonely. The friends I had growing up live far away, or are busy with marriages and children. Father was my only living relative after Harry's death, and even if he had not relocated to Kenya, I daresay we would not have enjoyed a close relationship. (That he loved me in his own way, I don't doubt, but he never let himself get to know me well enough to like me. I don't believe he ever really forgave me for my mother's death, or for not at least having the decency to be a boy.) I had already more or less resigned myself to the probability of spinsterhood when I received word of his death.

"But here with the League," I concluded, "I can live my life among friends, which is more than some people can say. And I hope I'll be able to prove myself useful, something I don't believe I've managed to do as yet. If nothing else, I can maintain a written history of the League's exploits." This was an allusion to this diary; I was half-hoping Tom would admit that he was the one who bought it for me.

He made no such confession, but he agreed with my sentiments about being on the _Nautilus_. "I know what you mean about being lonely. My family's all gone too, and Huck... When I met Allan, it was sort of like I was getting the chance to have a father for the first time." He looked sad, as he usually does when my father's death is discussed.

"And to him, it must have been like he got Harry back for a little while," I said softly. "I think he must have been proud of you."

At that he looked embarrassed, but very pleased. We fell into silence again for a little while.

Then he said, "He would be proud of you, too."

It was quite shockingly late when I came back to my room. Tom went so far as to walk me to the door, which I thought was charmingly polite. I was so tired that, once in bed, I fell asleep without further discomfort.


	2. Wilted Roses and Hungry Crocs

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**24 September 1899**

I am sorry to say that I am not proving to be a very good student of chemistry, at least not thus far. Mina has been patient with me, and I am trying, but it just seems dreadfully complex. Fascinating, certainly, but difficult to master all the same. It doesn't help that she makes it look so easy, being proficient in the field as she is.

She and Henry have, for a time, set aside their efforts to find a cure for Skinner's invisibility. It seems to be proving a task beyond their combined expertise; and even Hawley Griffin -- the one who created the invisibility serum in the first place -- never found a way to reverse the process. As Mina pointed out, however, we don't know whether that was because he was unable to do so, or if he simply never bothered. He was not a good man, from all I have heard of him. Skinner is, or was, a thief, and might not always have been the most honourable of gentlemen, but I have never heard of him harming innocent persons. Griffin, on the other hand, apparently used his invisibility in ways that would have inspired de Gaulle's co-conspirator.

But I will not think of _that_.

As far as Mina's herbal lessons are proceeding, she is a much quicker study in my subject than I am in hers. The herbalist's craft is not a difficult one to teach, thankfully; mostly it involves helping her learn to identify different plants and remember the properties of each one. (Chemistry is much the same in some respects, but I never have to worry about whether mixing the dried leaves of one plant with the powdered root of another is going to cause an explosion.) Peppermint, for example, is an excellent remedy for upset stomachs, so I am teaching her to harvest and dry the plant for the purpose of making medicinal tea. I expect Mina doesn't experience upset stomachs too often, but I have found a cup of peppermint tea to be quite soothing on many occasions -- especially when I was first on the _Nautilus_ and not at all used to nautical life -- and the others may as well.

We were quite industrious in this endeavour as the hour grew close to tea time. We are both usually quite punctual for meals and the like, so I suppose it was rather noticeable when we did not arrive for tea; in any event, Henry came to fetch us, and I suspect he stood in the open doorway for a few moments before actually making his presence known.

"This is quite the charming picture," he said, when we looked up. He had a rather sweet expression on his face as he watched us. We both had our hair unbound, and on Mina, the femininity was a strong contrast to her somewhat mannish style of dress. Her sleeves were rolled up and her necktie was working its way loose, and I have little doubt that Henry's eyes were entirely upon her, though he was thoughtful enough to include me in the compliment. She rewarded him with a rare smile, which I daresay was all the payment he needed. He drew out his elegant silver pocket watch and played with it nervously while we cleared away our work. Then Mina took his arm, and I followed the pair of them to where the others were already taking their tea.

Nemo tells us that we are directly on course, and can expect to be within sight of Egypt sometime in the next two days. The _Nautilus_ will sail into the Mediterranean Sea, from which we can visit not only Egypt, but also Greece, Italy, and many other places. We probably could have been there by now -- they travelled from Paris to Venice in less than four days when my father was alive -- but as there is no urgency to our trip, the ship is only moving at half speed. I think this is to give us all plenty of time to rest and recover from the events of the past few months, so that we are quite refreshed when we begin our new adventures.

* * *

**25 September 1899**

It is shortly after luncheon, and I am told that we have just entered the waters of the Mediterranean. I am especially grateful that my formal period of mourning for my father has ended, because the climate in these parts is far warmer than in England, and the dark colours would only add to my discomfort. The temperature aboard the ship is quite pleasant, but I expect to be excessively warm in the Egyptian sun.

Speaking of my father, Captain Nemo took me aside after dinner last night and presented me with a key. Of course I already have one key, to my own quarters, but this key is to the rooms Father occupied during his time on the _Nautilus_. "Naturally, everything of his is now yours," Nemo said, "and you may go into his room at your pleasure. I did not bring this up before, when we had so many other things to worry us, but I believe now you may wish to go through his belongings. If I can be of any assistance, of course, you have only to ask."

I thanked him for, once again, being the soul of courtesy, but I have not yet made use of the key. I am not certain that I am ready.

* * *

**26 September 1899**

We have reached the coast of Egypt, and the upper deck of the submarine is once again above the water. After breakfast we all went up to have a look, and to feel the sun on our faces. The climate is really quite glorious; I imagine that back home, my neighbours are waking up to another rainy English day.

The plan is to leave the _Nautilus_ out here, fully submerged in the deeper waters, after those who are going ashore have done so. The League members, a small contingent of Nemo's men, and I will travel down the Nile on boats, which Nemo plans to rent from local merchants. We are to pack for a ten-day trip down the river and back up; our intentions are to see the Valley of the Kings, the major pyramids, and the Sphinx. Along with the architecture, I am told we can expect to see wildlife in vast numbers, including crocodiles and hippopotami.

Everyone wishes to leave immediately following luncheon, so I must have my trunk packed before then. I shall update this diary once we are on the Nile.

* * *

**later**

It's so very, very hot!

We are, indeed, sailing down the Nile as I write. Nemo has procured two boats for our use, and has divided his attendants between them to act as rowers. The League and I are on the lead vessel, and our supplies and belongings are on the one behind us. Nemo has elected not to hire a guide for this expedition; I think he has grown wary of strangers. He has some maps of the region, and as there are not exactly many wrong turns one can take on the Nile, that should probably be sufficient.

I was wrong when I thought we would be docking in Cairo; Cairo, in fact, is located some way down the Nile from the delta, where the river meets the sea. We disembarked in the ancient city of Alexandria, once home to the world's greatest library. In modern times it is quite bustling and busy.

I very much wanted to visit Alexandria's famous Greco-Roman Museum, as I hear it's highly worthwhile. Unfortunately, the museum is presently closed to visitors; they are in the process of enlarging the display space, and no one may tour during the construction. So while Nemo was conducting his business, making arrangements for our transport, the rest of us amused ourselves by browsing a nearby marketplace. Henry bought a small supply of kohl, and urged Tom and myself to smudge it around our eyes. I was not enthusiastic about this plan, but he explained that the ancient Egyptians used to do this very thing to protect their eyes from the glare of the sun. Skinner, who always wears dark glasses when visible, has no need of the dark substance, but even Mina consented to try it. I have to admit, it does make the brightness less oppressive.

I have my parasol propped open to keep the sun from shining on the pages of this diary, and now and then I am fanning myself with a fan from the market, made from the leaves of some native plant. I think I must look as though I feel unwell, however, because Henry keeps urging me to drink water. I have not forgotten what Africa is like, a lesson I learned on my visits to Father in Kenya, but I am nevertheless struggling against great discomfort. I suppose it will take me a day or two to readjust.

* * *

**27 September 1899**

A day or two, indeed. I am a bit embarrassed to say so, but not long after I concluded that last diary entry, I actually fainted from the heat. Having learned my lesson on my prior visits to this continent, I was dressed not unlike Mina -- a loose-fitting white blouse with the sleeves pushed up, and only one petticoat under my skirt rather than the usual two. Nevertheless, the heat was greater than I remembered. One's memories of less than pleasant things can soften some over time, after all. But I feel much better now, and I just overheard Skinner make some remark about an English rose wilting in the sun. (It's all well and good for him to joke now that I'm well again, but according to Henry, when I toppled over, Skinner was the one who caught me before I hit the deck of the boat.)

As if the heat weren't enough of a difficulty, our proximity to the marshes along the river has exposed us to the threat of mosquitoes -- and with mosquitoes can sometimes come malaria. We must all sleep with our beds completely covered by netting, to protect ourselves from being bitten in the night. During the day, a locally-made insect repellent is useful for discouraging the little monsters. I realize it's all quite necessary, but between the kohl on my eyes and the repellent on my arms, I'm looking forward to a good bath when we return to the submarine.

* * *

**later**

We have witnessed our first Egyptian sunset -- a truly magnificent sight -- and are preparing for bed. We have put ashore some ways north of Cairo, well enough away from the river that we should not be disturbed by crocodiles, though Nemo's men will take turns guarding our camp in the night. For the duration of this expedition, I will be sharing one tent with Mina; Nemo and Henry will share a second tent, and Skinner and Tom a third. After a good night's rest, we shall leave in the morning and head for Giza, home of the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx.

I was surprised to learn, as we took our supper before leaving the boats, that Tom has actually been to Egypt before this. Apparently, he and that Huck friend of his, along with an escaped slave named Jim, made some kind of world tour in a hot air balloon. It was quite unintentional, as he explains it, but they had a marvellous time. The more I know of my American friend, the more surprised I become by how much he has done in his short life -- after all, he's but a few months older than I am, and I have seen almost nothing of the world! He tells us that the Great Pyramid is colossal in scope, and the Sphinx is quite the marvel as well, though alas, the face has decayed so that no one is entirely certain who it was originally intended to resemble.

This country becomes less oppressively hot after the sun sets, for which I'm grateful. Sleep is not long in coming for me.

* * *

**28 September 1899**

What an alarming night that was!

I fell asleep in very short order, glad of the protection of my mosquito netting -- I could hear the wretched things buzzing nearby, perhaps in frustration at being unable to reach me. I am not certain how long I slept, but it was still quite dark when I awoke to hear shouting.

A handful of crocodiles somehow made their way from the river into our camp. The Indian guards were calling to each other as they attempted to deter the beasts with gunshots, but apparently, these were only agitating the crocodiles more. I have heard that a fully grown crocodile is quite capable of polishing off an adult human, and I don't wonder that the guards might have been afraid. In her cot across the tent, Mina too awoke, and we sat, listening to the indecipherable shouts in Hindustani. I heard Nemo's voice calling to his men as he exited his tent. I saw a shadow take shape at the entrance to our tent, and surmised that one of the men was standing guard over us.

Mina, very calmly, threw back her mosquito netting and strode out of the tent. I hesitated, then followed, pulling on a dressing-gown as I did. A few of the crocodiles lay dead; one or two had retreated. They were huge, perhaps eight feet long each, and they snapped at the men with powerful jaws lined with many hideous teeth. Tom stood to my left, holding his Winchester -- he was the one who had moved to stand before our tent flap, and we just stared in a kind of dazed fascination. The men were beginning to succeed in their efforts to force the remaining reptile back to the water; at least, it appeared to start retreating.

Without warning, the crocodile charged. Straight at me.

I had a terrifying glimpse of the creature's open mouth as it moved with remarkable swiftness to grab my leg. It had acted so quickly, everyone was too stunned to do anything. I shrieked and backed into the tent pole, clumsily trying to escape, but those awful teeth were about to close on my leg.

Only they didn't. They closed on something, certainly, but it was not me. A horrible yell echoed from the thin air in front of me as blood dribbled down an unseen leg, or arm, or something. Yes, of course, Skinner was standing between myself and the crocodile, and the animal bit him instead.

Another gunshot rent the air, and the crocodile released him. A second shot, and the beast lay still. Tom had put a pair of bullets into its head. In front of me, my invisible shield stumbled and fell backward; I caught him, somehow, and lowered him carefully to the ground.

To my relief, I learned that Skinner's wound, while painful, was not serious; the crocodile's teeth had reached flesh sooner than it had anticipated, and so it had not put its full strength behind the bite. Henry has patched him up well, and though the bandage he must wear for a few days will make it impossible for him to be perfectly invisible, he will be fine. We packed up camp immediately and spent the rest of the night in the safety of the boats, and as soon as I was decently able, I went to see him.

He seemed quite jovial, for a man who was recently bitten by a crocodile -- and not just any crocodile. According to Nemo, the crocodiles of Egypt are rumoured to be among the most ferocious beasts in the world. "You know, Bess," he said, "if you don't stop getting yourself into trouble like that, I'm gonna start charging for these little mishaps."

I could only shake my head and laugh. "I don't know what I'd do without you, my friend."

"Oh, you'd probably run off to America with Tom or something," he replied lightly. "Speaking of which..."

Tom had chosen that moment to join us, and I can only hope he didn't hear Skinner's last remark. I was red enough for both of us.

"Good shot there, Sawyer, lad," said Skinner, shaking hands with him.

"Not good enough. Shouldn't have let the croc get that close to Elizabeth in the first place. Good thing you were there." Tom looked rather uncomfortable for some reason. I had the vaguest unease myself; I think there was more to this entire conversation than I really understand, but perhaps it got cleared up after I left them to help with breakfast preparations.

It is now approaching midday, as near as I can tell by the sun, and we are currently sailing past the city of Cairo. I have been reading a book I found in the library back at Solomon Manor, about the exploits of a friend of Father's here in Egypt; it involves a woman known by her worshippers as "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed." It's quite interesting, but utterly fantastical.

On the other hand...considering my current situation -- sharing a tent with a vampire, befriended by an invisible man, cared for by a doctor who can transform into a beast -- perhaps I shouldn't judge so hastily.


	3. The City of the Dead

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**30 September 1899**

We arrived in Giza in the afternoon of the day before yesterday. Never in my life have I seen anything like what confronts us now. The Great Pyramid is massive, just as Tom described; I believe Notre Dame, which up to this point has been among the tallest buildings I have ever seen, would fit inside the pyramid with room to spare. According to the books Nemo has brought along, the Great Pyramid was commissioned by the pharaoh called Khufu, or Cheops as he is remembered today; it is the largest pyramid still standing and most probably is the largest one the Egyptians ever built. It's made entirely of blocks of limestone, but Nemo says that no one knows exactly how the ancient Egyptians accomplished this miracle of architecture.

We spent what remained of daylight on the day we arrived, all of yesterday and all day today exploring the ruins of Giza. We saw teams of archaeologists hard at work, trying to unlock the mysteries of these historic structures. Mostly they ignored us, and, not wishing to interfere with their work, we ignored them too. We slept on the boats last night, to avoid further run-ins with crocodiles, and today continued our tour. I have learned so much about Egyptian history, and I must write it all here so I shall never forget.

There is a kind of sad beauty about the Sphinx, which I understand the archaeologists have plans to try and restore. The shifting sands had buried it once so that it was almost impossible to find, but now it has reclaimed its place as a treasure of Egypt. The face is terribly damaged; the nose is missing completely, but one can still see the eyes, ageless, but not without emotion. Despite the eradication of the paint over time, they still seem quite proud. The Sphinx's head is adorned with a curious crown identical to those worn by the pharaohs in pictures I have seen, and they say it is quite probable that it too was commissioned by Cheops. But they do not know for certain; other pharaohs have burial places here in Giza -- Khafra's smaller pyramid is not too far from Cheops's, and beyond that is the even smaller pyramid of Menkauhor. There are also several smaller pyramids, which I understand are called mastabas. These are not made from limestone, like the three large ones, but of bricks formed from mud and straw; they date from earlier dynasties than the limestone pyramids.

The pyramids of Cheops, Khafra, and Menkauhor are connected to the Nile by stone passages, or causeways. When the pharaohs died, their bodies were mummified in the Egyptian tradition, then travelled by barge along the Nile until they reached Giza. The sarcophagi containing the bodies were then hauled up the causeways into the mortuary temples which are the entrance to the pyramids. The mummies were placed in special chambers within the structures, along with their jewels and clothes and other funerary supplies, and the pyramids were then sealed -- forever, or at least that was their intention.

Tonight we rest, and then tomorrow we are to sail to Central Egypt to visit Luxor (once called Thebes) and the Valley of the Kings. It's funny, but the section of the country where we are now is known as Lower Egypt, even though it is the most northern portion of the Nile. Nemo's book says that the designations of Lower and Upper Egypt refer to the flow of the Nile; Upper Egypt, which is the southernmost part of the river, is the part closest to the source of the Nile, Victoria Falls. One would think it would be quite the reverse -- that Lower Egypt would be the southern end, because it is lower on the map.

* * *

**1 October 1899**

We are pursuing our trek south along the Nile, and have passed into Central Egypt. Luxor should be reached by tomorrow; we are, of course, proceeding fairly slowly so as not to overwork Nemo's men.

There is little of which to write today. It is, of course, hot. I have nearly finished Father's book about Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. Tom, Skinner, and Henry are playing endless games of cards, and I suspect they may actually be gambling but I can't say for sure; if they are, they are doing well in their attempts to conceal the fact. Nemo spends his time going over maps and charts of the region and consulting with the rowers to make sure they are not overtired. Mina, much like myself, is occupying her time with reading or watching the landscape. There is little else to do, in truth, until we reach our destination.

* * *

**2 October 1899**

Luxor is quite a different experience from Giza! We will stay here for at least three or four days, exploring, for we have found a companion in the form of one of the archaeologists. Dr. Howard Carter is here performing research in what is known as the Theban City of the Dead, a vast land filled with burial plots of the Egyptian royalty.

The City of the Dead (what a morbid name!) stretches between the Valley of the Kings, where only the pharaohs are buried, and the Valley of the Queens, where the wives and children of the Egyptian rulers were laid to rest. Dr. Carter is but twenty-five years old, and has already been a participant in a number of important explorations. He has been named Chief Inspector of Antiquities of Upper Egypt, and will be relocating there in a few days to begin his searching.

Dr. Carter is a rather delightful young man, and has been a charming host. (Upon meeting me, he said, "The name Quatermain is not unknown to us here." Even here in Egypt, the Englishmen have heard of my father and extend to me their condolences on his passing.) When he is not working, he dwells in a rest house on the West Bank of the Nile. The City of the Dead is quite some distance from the river, but he travels to and from the rest house by horse. He has a few horses here, and has invited us to accompany him tomorrow; he has promised to show us the most mysterious discovery he has yet made in the Valleys.

* * *

**3 October 1899**

When Dr. Carter told us that he would show us a most mysterious discovery, he did not exaggerate.

It seems that earlier this very year, our archaeologist friend was returning to his rest house when his horse took a fall. The mount was uninjured, luckily, and the fall was actually quite fortunate -- it exposed an unknown burial site! They have nicknamed the place "the Tomb of the Door of the Horse," to commemorate its true discoverer, but a real mystery lay within.

Inside this tomb were only two items. One was a coffin with no inscription which, even more curious, turned out to be empty. The other was a statue, bound in linen, resting beside the coffin. Dr. Carter took us into the small tomb and allowed us to examine it for ourselves, the contents having not yet been removed.

The statue is apparently meant to represent a pharaoh, though which one is unclear. It wears nothing but a short skirt and a crown, which Dr. Carter identifies as the red crown of the Delta. Most likely this means the statue is representative of a pharaoh from Lower Egypt.

Mina seemed disturbed by the coffin. I suppose this is only natural, given that the monster Dracula spent so much time sleeping inside of one -- it was an unpleasant reminder for her. She was trying very hard not to even look at it, a fact that escaped no one's notice, least of all Henry's. I heard him ask her, very quietly, if she was all right, but she brushed the question aside.

We could not remain long in the tomb, for it was not particularly large and, with so many people in so small a space, it grew quite unbearably stuffy and warm. We left and had our luncheon under a tent Nemo's men had pitched for us, then resumed our exploration of the City of the Dead. There are a number of temples to be seen as well as the dozens of tombs, such as those of Amenhotep and Ramesses II.

Dr. Carter intends to depart for Upper Egypt in a few days, and I for one shall be sorry to see him leave. It has been truly fascinating to view the wonders of Egypt in the company of one who is so knowledgeable -- indeed, one who has helped to uncover so many of them.

* * *

**4 October 1899**

I count myself fortunate to have slept on the boat last night, for Nemo's men have reported that they heard strange things happening on the mainland. It was too dark to see properly, but they thought they detected the sounds of a scuffle of some sort in or near Dr. Carter's rest house.

Mina continues to seem troubled, and this latest news has only increased her unease. I wish she would confide in me, or in someone, what worries her. I haven't time to contemplate the problem just now, however, as we are to return to the West Bank once again to resume our explorations of the City of the Dead.

* * *

**later**

Dr. Carter seems unwell. He strikes me as being rather tired, which perhaps can be attributed to the heat. He is also behaving somewhat oddly; he kept staring at different people in a most indiscreet manner.

Mina's anxiety continues to mount, and it makes her irritable. I saw her pull Nemo aside for a private conference; it may be that she has finally decided to discuss her difficulties, though the captain is a bit of an odd choice for a confidante. I would have expected her to go first to Henry or to Tom, as she remains closest to them.

It is close to sundown, and we are to return to the boat. Dr. Carter has invited us to stay at his rest house with him, and I can't think why we could not accept. But Nemo insists that we must go back to the boat before the sun sets fully. I tried to ask him why, but he asked me to have patience and promised that explanations would be forthcoming. I am quite thoroughly mystified by this, as it is unlike Nemo to be so clandestine.

* * *

**later still**

I cannot write just now. I am exhausted and bewildered by all that I have just been told. This much only will I impart to my diary for the moment, and will fill in details upon the morrow:

Mina Harker is not the only vampire in the City of the Dead.


	4. Innocent Blood

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**5 October 1899**

In the light of day, my words of last night hardly seem like they can be real; indeed, the brightness of the sun is almost enough to convince me that the entire meeting to which I was privy was nothing more than a dream. But I know that it happened, and I must record it accurately.

Once the League members and I were aboard our boat, we adjourned to the lower level where we have been fitted with sleeping quarters. After we were settled and some candles were lit, Nemo asked Mina to speak her mind freely.

"I have suspected it since first we entered the Tomb of the Door of the Horse," she said in her soft, cool voice. "After what I have seen of Dr. Carter's behaviour today, I know it to be so. There is evil here, a terrible and dangerous evil that could consume all of you."

"What evil?" asked Tom. His face was intent as he watched her.

"My kind has few...gifts," she said. "But one of the more valuable is that we can recognize the presence of another vampire. When we looked at that unmarked coffin, I felt the sensation rising in the back of my mind. I hoped I was wrong, but then when Nemo's men reported hearing the struggle, I began to fear the worst. Dr. Carter is now acting as one does when a vampire has begun to feed upon them."

She paused, and Skinner said, "But we've seen you feed, Mina. It's not a slow process, you do it once and they're done. So what's happening to Carter that's different?"

"Dr. Carter is being slowly drained of his blood," she replied. "Some vampires feed differently than others; I am not inclined to prolong the suffering of those whom I kill, so I bring their deaths as swiftly as I am able. Others take their time, stretching the feeding process over a number of days. That is also part of the process by which vampires are made. It is quite possible that the one who is feeding on Dr. Carter plans not to kill him, but to make him into one of us. If that is the case, then he has drunk of the vampire's blood just as the vampire has drunk of his."

My confusion must have showed on my face, because she directed her next comment at me. "Dr. Carter will begin to grow hungry for blood. The longer he remains bound to the one who feeds upon him, the worse the desire will become; he will begin seeking to replace that which is taken from him. If the vampire who is causing the trouble is destroyed soon, Dr. Carter can be saved and returned to his normal self. Otherwise he will either die, or else he will succumb to the bloodlust and become a vampire in full."

I admit freely that I still was not fully comprehending all that she said, but this much I understood: Mina wishes to save Dr. Carter from her own fate, and if we do not act swiftly, there is no hope for him.

"So how do we catch the feeder?" asked Henry, quietly.

"And if we manage to catch it, how do we kill it? Where's it hiding now?" asked Tom.

"That I do not know," she admitted. "I was too unnerved by the scent of the other vampire to pay much attention in the tomb, but if I can examine the crypt more closely, I may be able to understand what happened. As to capturing the vampire, that might prove easier; we could accept the hospitality of Dr. Carter's rest house and simply wait with him until the feeder arrives. The lure of additional blood -- especially innocent blood -- should prove almost irresistible."

"How...how exactly do you define 'innocent' blood?" I ventured to ask, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

She regarded me with those inscrutable eyes. "The blood of an innocent person, Elizabeth," she replied. "Someone who has not indulged their...baser desires. Someone who has never willingly done harm to another person for their own pleasure."

"And how does a vampire recognize an innocent?" asked Nemo, curiously.

"They smell differently," she said simply. "I couldn't describe it to you exactly, but the blood of those who are not innocent has a taint, which changes the smell forever. It can't ever be removed. Innocents have a more pure scent to their blood. Elizabeth has innocent blood; so does Tom. Other vampires would be drawn to them like moths to a candle flame; the lure of innocent blood is difficult to resist for those who are completely turned. Dr. Carter has already proved irresistible."

"How can my blood be innocent?" Tom demanded. "I've killed people -- I'd call that doing harm."

Mina brushed aside the objection. "The only times you've killed are times when the lives of others have been endangered," she told him. A funny little smile was toying with the corners of her mouth. "Trust me, Tom. If you took any real pleasure in bringing those deaths, I would know." They stared at each other for a moment, and there was a strange sort of hunger in both gazes -- though his hunger was different from hers, I think.

Needless to say, I'm hardly delighted at the prospect of a vampire inviting himself to dinner on my throat. But when I think of poor Dr. Carter, slowly turning into something as foul as the monster who made Mina what she is, it breaks my heart. If we can help him, then I believe we must.

The first order of business, while daylight is on our side, is to go back to the Tomb of the Door of the Horse and give it a good search. There may be clues there, as Mina has said, which will provide us with the vampire's origin and the knowledge of how best to destroy it. When night falls, we must summon our courage and guard Dr. Carter until the creature comes to feed again.

As the meeting ended and we all bade goodnight to one another, I caught Tom's eye. It was a strange sort of look we exchanged, and I sensed a kinship between us. I think we both feel as though, being the choice bait for the vampire, we're in this together. In spite of the fear which is threatening to overpower me, I am glad to have this affinity with him. It provides a bit of comfort.

* * *

**later**

Dr. Carter is, indeed, worse today; Mina believes the vampire visited him again last night. He is quite pale and wan. We elected not to mention to him that we wished to again visit the tomb. Mina says Dr. Carter must not know anything of our plans to help him, for the vampire can employ strange means of reading the victim's mind. She did not go into great detail, but she says that if Dr. Carter were aware of what we were doing, the vampire could also become alert to our intentions. This could have fearsome repercussions.

Instead, we told him we wished to split up and explore different areas, claiming that our interest divided us. Mina and Henry went one way, glossing over their actual destination; I think Mina really intended to go alone to the tomb, but Henry would not hear of it. The rest of us stayed with Dr. Carter, doing our best to keep him distracted.

It has been an unnerving sort of day. Dr. Carter is not a weak man, from what I judged of him prior to the initial attack, but I believe he is slowly losing the will to fight what is happening inside of himself. He seemed to keep closer to us than common decency would permit; at one point, he actually made a comment to me about how smooth and soft the skin of my throat appeared! If I were not aware of what is truly wrong with the man, I should have been affronted by the forwardness of such a remark, flattering though it may have been.

We are presently resting in the shade, having completed luncheon. It is, as usual, unbearably hot, and no one is in any particular hurry to move from this relatively cool location. Mina and Henry have not yet returned, which I hope means that they are having success with their searching, and not that they have encountered some sort of danger.

* * *

**later still**

We estimate that there are some two hours left until nightfall. Mina and Henry have rejoined us, and we managed to convince Dr. Carter to return to his rest house for, well, some rest. He is there, while we have been conferring on the boat.

There was little information to be gleaned from the Tomb of the Door of the Horse, or at least little of the variety which will help us. From what they did uncover, Henry and Mina tell us that the vampire was sealed in its tomb well over three thousand years ago. Most probably it had been terrorizing the region, and by some means unknown to us, they managed to trap it inside the coffin. (I am quite ready to believe almost anything of the ancient Egyptians. How is it that a civilization so remarkable, so capable of extraordinary feats, left so little indication behind of how their accomplishments came to pass?) The statue's purpose remains unclear, although Mina thinks it may have been included in the tomb for religious or mystic reasons which contributed to the vampire's entrapment; when the linen in which the statue was wrapped was removed, it undid the...enchantment, for lack of a better word.

One thing this does not explain, however, is how the vampire got out of the coffin before it was opened by the expedition. Dr. Carter said that on first opening, the coffin was empty. But Mina says that Dracula was capable of transforming himself into not only a cluster of bats, but other shapes as well, including a creeping mist. It may be that the Egyptian vampire can transform into something such as a snake or a scorpion, which managed to get away unnoticed.

We still have no idea where the vampire has been hiding during the daylight hours. Mina believes, however, that it can be brought down by the standard method of slaying a vampire -- a wooden stake through the heart, followed by decapitation. The mouth is then supposed to be filled with garlic, but that is in short supply here. She recommends that instead, we set fire to the vampire's body.

"Whatever happens," she added, "we must keep Dr. Carter away from here. We should try to get him to stay here on the boat. If he is here when the vampire comes, and we fight with it, he will most likely try to interfere. He won't understand what he is doing, or why, but he will almost certainly attempt to protect the vampire from us, and I don't believe any of us wish to harm him if we can avoid it."

"If we can just get him here, I can sedate him to make him sleep," said Henry. "Otherwise, Mina says he will try to get back to his house. Someone must stay here and guard him, though."

We all looked at each other.

"Tom, I think you and Elizabeth should remain here," said Nemo. "From what Mina told us last night, the two of you are in the greatest danger from the vampire. If Dr. Carter is sedated, he can do you no harm."

We consented to the plan, Tom more reluctantly than I. I know he wants very much to help bring down the vampire, but he is much safer here. I want to help too, but except perhaps as bait, I don't think I'd really be very useful. We will all go, however, to bring Dr. Carter back to the boat.


	5. What You Hold Most Dear

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**6 October 1899**

I am lying in my cot, and have been told not to get up until Henry allows me. I really am not certain what happened last night. Everything seemed to go very quickly. It took us a long time to convince Dr. Carter to come back to our boat -- too long, in fact, for the sun began to set.

All of a sudden, or so it struck me, we turned around and there was someone else in the room. A young Egyptian woman stood in the doorway, staring at us. She was dressed in fine linen garments, though these had a frayed appearance; they must have been old. Her hair was thick and black, her skin deeply tanned, and she was altogether lovely. She could have been the daughter of a pharaoh, to judge by her regal bearing.

Then she snarled, and we realized that this was, in fact, the vampire. Dr. Carter cried out the word "Kiya" at the sight of her, and I am assuming that it is her name. Her eyes began to shine blood-red, and she hissed as she sprang into the air.

Mina met her halfway across the room. I must say that there was something strangely beautiful about watching the two battling for supremacy, or at least there was until they starting to actually harm one another. Mina's was the first hit; she threw Kiya into a wall, and Kiya bounced back and raked her nails across Mina's face. Of course, these scratches healed at once.

I must have been somewhat dazed as everything was going on, for I only recall bits and pieces of the action. Henry took his formula, and at once Edward began to emerge; I think the two sides of the man are in complete agreement about one thing, which is that no one can even attempt to harm their precious Mina and get away with it. Dr. Carter looked wild and frantic. Nemo had his sword drawn, probably to remove Kiya's head as soon as possible. I heard him telling Tom to take me back to the boat.

This seemed to attract Kiya's attention, for she turned and stared at the corner of the room where we stood. She sniffed, and I dimly recollected what Mina said about the smell of innocent blood. Then she smiled, a harsh smile that I think I will forever remember very clearly. She sprang forward, launching herself at Tom. who fell backward.

He landed near me, with her body on top of his, pinning him to the floor. She said something in a language that, to my ears, made absolutely no sense; an old Egyptian dialect, I presume. Dr. Carter heard her, though, and seemed to understand, for he called out to her in a most frantic voice. "No, Kiya! Not him! I am here!"

She took no notice of his cries, but instead caressed Tom's face tenderly with one hand while pulling open his shirt collar with the other. As she bent her head to his exposed throat, Edward raised one mighty arm and knocked her sideways; she turned over in midair and landed neatly on all fours, like a cat. She hissed at Edward, then turned to look at me. After that...I don't know what happened after that. Perhaps I fainted again, though it did not seem to me that it was very hot.

* * *

**later**

Things are worse than I could have imagined. I have been having a long conversation with Tom, who has been filling some of the gaps in my memory.

After Kiya attacked him, and Edward threw her aside, she sprang at me. It was like when the crocodile lunged; a solid, invisible barrier prevented her from actually reaching her target. It was not until Tom told me this that I remembered not seeing Skinner in the room when Kiya showed up; he must have shed his traces of visibility at the first sight of her. She screamed in great frustration, her sharp fangs glittering in the candlelight, and then sank her teeth into what she could not see. Later, Henry would discover she had bitten Skinner in the chest. He bellowed in pain, and Edward managed to pull her off of him. According to Tom, I was screaming, and blacked out. He had followed Nemo's orders then, and brought me back to the boat, so he didn't know any more.

I made him take me to see Skinner. They've put his cream on most of his body, what isn't concealed by a blanket at any rate, and he does not look well. He has bandages not only on his chest, but also on his shoulder.

"Do I look pale?" he quipped.

I felt tears spring into my eyes. "Does it hurt very much?" I whispered.

"Let's put it this way," he said. "I'd rather have another go-round with that croc."

I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. I heard Tom asking Skinner how badly Kiya had "gotten him," and Skinner made a kind of funny noise.

"It's not good," he said. He lowered his voice, probably hoping I wouldn't hear, but I did. "After you brought Bess out here, Nemo tried to cut her head off. Carter jumped him from behind, dragged him backward, and she took the opportunity to get at me again. Henry says I've lost a fair bit of blood. Hyde knocked Carter out, and Mina tried to get that stake into her heart, but she got away." He twitched strangely.

"I could understand her," he said hoarsely. "I don't know what language she's speaking, but I understood her anyway. She got me, Tom, but she wants you. She doesn't even want Carter anymore -- just you. That's what she was saying when she jumped on you, that she wants you instead of him."

"W-Why?" Tom looked thunderstruck.

"Dunno, lad. All she says is that you're hers. Guess she was going to make Carter into a vampire to keep her company, but now she's planning on doing it to you. Let's face it, you _are _prettier." Skinner smirked.

The sun sets in two hours. Tom has gone to confer with the other League members about their plans. I am not included in this meeting, and quite frankly, I think that may be for the best.

* * *

**later still**

The League, apart from Skinner, has left the boat for the West Bank. I am to stay here with him. I believe they intend to return to Dr. Carter's house, to see if she will come back there, but I do not know for certain.

I feel just awful about what has happened to Skinner. That's twice since we arrived in Egypt that he protected me from imminent death, almost at the cost of his own life. Were I inclined to joke about things, as he does, I would scold him for his hovering; but laughing in the face of such misfortune has never been my way. Indeed, before I met this peculiar man, I never knew anyone who was like that.

He sleeps, for the moment. Dr. Carter is on the other boat, guarded by several of Nemo's best men; with any luck, he sleeps as well. I pray that the dawn brings an end to all this madness.

* * *

**7 October 1899**

It seems as though our situation grows worse with every passing day. Kiya did not return to Dr. Carter's rest house last night, but instead made her way here to the boat. She does not seem to have made a further attempt on Dr. Carter, and for that much alone may we be thankful. Skinner, however, is another matter, as we all found out today.

I fell asleep a little while after writing that last diary entry. Skinner was still asleep when I dozed off, and all seemed well. Indeed, when I first became aware of what was going on, I thought I was merely dreaming.

There was a fine shimmering mist, like low-hanging clouds, spreading over the floor. My eyes were opened but a crack. Then I blinked, or some such, and the mist coalesced into the form of Kiya herself. I could not tell whether Skinner was awake, but I think he must have been, for his face was turned in her direction. His expression was frozen, as though in shock or terror.

She spoke to him frequently, and in that strange Egyptian tongue I could not interpret. But Skinner was able to understand the words, and when he later imparted the tale to our friends, he translated.

"Keep still your tongue," she said, "or I shall suffer you to witness the death of what you hold most dear. I could crush the spark of life with a touch of my hand! Yet for the moment, I will spare that life in exchange for more of your own."

Skinner did not resist her as she bent her head to his throat; he said that he could not. Something in her strange power prevented it. She drank what she would of him, then said, "All you who would keep me from that which is mine will perish. Tell the others. I will have the one for whom I have waited these centuries. If you continue to defy me, your lives are forfeit, starting with this one." She pointed at me, then vanished.

Mina groaned as Skinner finished relating the tale. "Too familiar for my comfort," she muttered. "I have been where you are, Skinner. Dracula forced my cooperation by threatening my beloved Jonathan. Had you said but one word to protest, I don't doubt Kiya would have carried out her threat."

Tom was very pale. "So if she doesn't get me, she's going to kill all of you?" He started to pace.

"That's about the size of it," said Skinner. He sounded drained, exhausted. "Bess first, and the others in turn, I suppose until you're the only one left, Tom." He gave a weary chuckle. "Doesn't make sense, though. She's already started on me, why wouldn't she finish me first?"

"She'll force you to watch." Mina's voice was hollow. "Like she would have forced you to watch if you'd resisted her last night. You'll have to watch her kill Elizabeth, and perhaps Nemo or Henry too, before she kills you as well." She was shaking, which surprised me; I have never known Mina to demonstrate fear so visibly. Henry went and placed a warm hand on her shoulder, and she clung to him gratefully.

I thought about what Skinner told us Kiya had said to him. "Keep still your tongue, or I shall suffer you to witness the death of what you hold most dear." How can she know what, or who, that is? I wondered. I decided that, just as he understands her mind at least well enough to be able to comprehend her unfamiliar language, she must be able to see into his mind too. I decided against asking him about it, however; he has been through enough lately without my badgering him with questions to which I probably have no right to know the answer.

Or...to which I may already know the answer.


	6. Queen Takes Knight

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**7 October 1899**

**later**

Dr. Carter has been moved from the other boat to this one. He still appears terribly unwell, but the fact that he has not been a food source lately seems to have helped a little.

It was Mina who wanted him brought here, and while Nemo's men made the transfer, she explained why. "When Jonathan and Professor van Helsing were hunting Dracula, the professor would put me into a hypnotic trance. I was then sometimes able to describe Dracula's surroundings, to give them an idea of where he was. I think we should attempt the same with Dr. Carter."

"Couldn't we hypnotize Skinner?" asked Henry.

"I don't believe so. Skinner has not drunk any of Kiya's blood; they do not share the same mental bond that a vampire shares with one of its 'children,' for lack of a better term. We have reason to believe, judging by his actions at the rest house the other night, that Dr. Carter is in the midst of the transformation process. He has a much better chance of helping us."

Once our explorer friend was settled, the matter was explained to him in gravest terms. He seemed confused more than anything, but was willing to make the attempt. Nemo borrowed Henry's silver pocket watch and used it to induce the trance. I had never witnessed a hypnotism before and found it as fascinating as it was unsettling.

"Where are you?" Mina asked.

"I...am not certain. I am hidden in darkness."

"What is near you?"

"It is cool in the dark...I am very small. Something large is nearby. I am resting at its base."

"What can you see?"

"There is light nearby. But I am safe and sheltered."

At this the trance was suddenly broken. Dr. Carter came to his senses with a great start. "What did I say? What did I say?"

Mina repeated his words back to him, and he looked bewildered. "No idea what that's about," he said blankly. "I'm sorry, my friends. I tried."

"And we thank you for that," said Mina curtly. "I think you should rest, Dr. Carter. You must recover your strength."

She, Henry, Nemo, and Tom went off to a corner to confer privately. Dr. Carter lay back and was asleep almost at once; Skinner, too, appeared to be sleeping. When Nemo beckoned, I followed the four of them to the upper deck, away from the patients.

"It seems probable," said Nemo, "that the vampire is concealing herself in one of the tombs in the City of the Dead. From what Dr. Carter said, she is not in human form, or she would certainly be noticed by explorers who enter her presence."

"Our best chance," said Mina grimly, "is to search the tombs. Once we find the right one, she will almost certainly resume her true shape in order to deal with us. But I can't begin to predict how long this will take, or how many tombs we may have to search."

"Couldn't we wait for her somewhere?" asked Tom. "Draw her out? I mean, if it's me she wants...she'll come looking, won't she?"

"Yes, but then we would have to fight with her again," said Mina heavily, "and she is stronger than any of you. She may even be stronger than me. Between Carter and Skinner, she's been feeding well lately, and that's only the throats we know she has bitten."

"So what do we do?" I asked plaintively. She rounded on me, and there was a look of something like pity in her cool eyes.

"You, Elizabeth, will stay with Kiya's victims. There is no point in putting you directly in harm's way. At least there is some time until sunset; we may get lucky." She appeared to be thinking, and then grimaced. "Professor van Helsing shielded me from harm by surrounding me with a circle drawn on the ground, its border sprinkled with crushed wafers from Holy Communion. But I don't believe we have any such sacraments here."

"Even if we did, would they work?" asked Henry, doubtfully. "I mean, she is a creature of ancient Egypt. Her origins predate that of Christianity itself."

Mina shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Unholy is unholy. But we're wasting time -- we must do all the searching we can before nightfall, and that is only a few hours away. It would be best, I think, to start in Kiya's own tomb, so let us go ashore and do what we can."

Henry put out a hand. I would later learn that this is something of a tradition for the League; Mina placed her own hand on top of his, then Nemo, then Tom. I added my own last of all. We regarded each other in silence for a long moment, as though it could be the last time we ever saw one another.

* * *

**9 October 1899**

It is quite early; the sun has only just risen. I don't believe I slept at all, but I don't care very much.

While the search party made to leave the boat, I went to where our belongings are kept on the second ship; Nemo's men have constructed a kind of walkway between the two, allowing for easy movement back and forth. I left all my mother's jewellery in the safety of my quarters on the _Nautilus_, which I do regret -- among her possessions was a splendid gold crucifix on a chain, which might have been of use to me. I did, at least, have the good sense to bring along my Bible, which was locked in my trunk, and this I retrieved and brought to where Skinner and Dr. Carter continued to sleep. I'd had an idea about placing it in the entrance to that chamber below deck.

It was very difficult to wait the long hours until the sun set, hoping against hope that the others would return in time. I felt vulnerable. Nemo's men are of no use against Kiya, as has been proven already; it may be that she can put them into some kind of trance, or sleep.

Night fell, and still the others did not return. I followed my plan, and laid the Bible across the threshold so she could not cross it. It turned out to be a needless gesture, for she did not come. Dr. Carter, however, awoke with a start and looked about wildly. "Where is she...is she here?" he asked.

"No, no," I told him. "Calm yourself, good friend. She is not here; we are safe."

His face contorted in anxiety. "We may be, but others are not." He was breathing heavily, and I noticed in shock that his canine teeth had grown a bit longer and sharper.

Skinner, too, awoke then. "Bess! Bess, where -- ?"

"It's all right, Skinner, she's not here."

"But where are they? Where is _he_?"

Only then did I put their words together and realize what they meant. God in heaven, help us...she's got Tom!

* * *

**later**

I am happy to report that things are not quite as bad as I made them out to be. That's not to say that they are going precisely well, but all is not lost.

It was not until close to dawn when the searching party returned. Edward carried the unconscious Tom in his massive arms; Tom's arms were hanging limply at his sides, his throat clearly punctured. Mina had flown ahead in her bat form, to prepare a bed in which he could rest and to fill Skinner and myself in on what had transpired. (We decided not to tell Dr. Carter, as he was already on his way back to sleep, and did not need to be further disturbed.)

They had guessed that Kiya was hiding within her tomb, so they set off in that direction. At their approach, she had roused and, sensing danger, summoned aid.

Mina explained that Dracula, in addition to being able to change his own shape, was also able to control certain other creatures, such as wolves. Therefore, she was not entirely surprised when a small army of scorpions appeared to attack them.

"We must be close," she had called to the men. They had borrowed Dr. Carter's horses for the trip to the tomb, which lay a fair way from his rest house on the West Bank, but these grew panicked at the sight of the deadly insects. The four searchers had little choice but to dismount and allow the horses to run free; they fled in the direction of the river and we assume they returned to where they are normally kept.

Tom, never far from his Winchester, had tried shooting the little monsters. He did manage to hit a few, but for the most part, the gunshots only scattered the group. Nemo and Henry crushed a small number under their boots; Henry paused long enough to drink his formula, for Edward's larger feet could destroy more of the scorpions, and Mina, in bat guise, actually condescended to eat some of them. "Disgusting," she acknowledged, "but effective."

The scorpion invasion delayed them nearly a full hour, and the sun drew ever nearer the horizon. They still had some distance to go and, now without mounts, had to travel on foot. By the time they actually reached the Tomb of the Door of the Horse, the sun had nearly set.

A fog drifted in from out of nowhere. It is, as Mina explains, another trick of the full vampire to be able to summon certain kinds of weather, such as storm and fog. The fog Kiya now called to her was so thick that the companions lost sight of one another entirely. Egypt itself was obscured by a mass of silver-grey. They wandered, lost, and before they were reunited it was too late. The sun was down.

For the rest of the tale, we were forced to wait until Tom awakened. He looked terribly sick, far worse than he had when he had been pushed off of Notre Dame Cathedral -- and that is saying something. When he had recovered his senses, he was able to relate his version of events.

In the fog, he had stumbled over the sands in what he believed was the direction of the tomb. He reached out blindly with both hands and, to his surprise, grasped the hand of another. "Mina? Nemo?" he had guessed.

There was no answer, but the hand which now gripped his pulled him forward. The touch was light, but he said he felt powerless to resist. In a moment, he found himself entering the tomb. Kiya stood before him, smiling mysteriously.

"Now I understand why Carter didn't resist her," he admitted. "She just turned me to jelly."

She was speaking to him, soft and low, but she must have realized after a moment that he couldn't understand a word she was saying. She then resorted to simply caressing his smooth face in her long, slender hands, which slid down to unbutton his shirt. She was fully as tall as he, and had no difficulty bringing her mouth to his throat.

"It was an odd sensation," he recalled later. "I knew what she was doing, I knew what it meant...but I didn't actually care. I couldn't have resisted her if I'd tried. It was like some part of me wanted it."

Once she had drunk of him, Tom could understand her words.

"I have awaited you for thousands of years," she said. "I thought it was the other -- the one who first awakened me -- but it was you. I knew it when first I saw you. You are mine forever. Together we will rule Egypt once again, and nothing will come between us but the night. I will kill all who would keep you from me."

He just stared into her black eyes. She smiled again.

"You will obey me. When I call you to me, there is nothing on earth that can keep you from answering the summons. You belong to me as surely as I belong to Egypt. Thus we seal our bond."

She put both hands on his shoulders and, with that strength beyond imagining, pushed him to his knees. Bending over him, she slashed her breast with her fingernail. She began to bleed, and fluidly, she pressed his face to her bosom to make him drink of her.

When he told us this, Mina gave a kind of soft moan. I could almost see the ghost of Dracula reflected in her haunted eyes; Tom's story was like reliving history for her. Edward, who was still among us, curled one hulking arm around her trembling form.

At length Kiya pulled Tom away from her, laughing. "Not so much, my love, as yet," she said. "But soon. Soon all will be finished. For now, come with me." She raised him to his feet again and kissed him, then pulled him across the room to her unmarked coffin. They climbed into it and she closed the lid.

Tom declined to elaborate any further. Mina looked surprised at this part of the story, for it was outside of her experience. None of us, save Tom himself, are entirely certain what happened once the coffin lid was closed, and while I'm sure we all have our theories, I would...rather not contemplate what may have occurred.

In any case, the fog eventually lifted, and the other three made their way to the tomb. Seeing no evidence that Kiya was there, Edward moved to pull the lid from the coffin. She somehow escaped, for only Tom lay inside, half asleep. He was in no state to answer questions or make any sort of coherent sense, so they decided to bring him back to the ship without delay. To their great surprise, they encountered no interference.

The sun has fully risen now. Tom, Skinner, and Dr. Carter all sleep. The sleep -- especially Tom's -- is most unnatural; they hardly seem to even breathe. Henry says we must all rest, for we have been awake all night and will be in no condition to fight Kiya if she comes for Tom after sundown.


	7. Smoke and Memory

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, vol. II: The Egypt Chronicle**

by Lady Norbert

* * *

**11 October 1899**

It seems now as though Kiya is toying with us, for there has been no disturbance since two nights ago. I am happy to say that Dr. Carter seems to be improving, though I wish the circumstances were better for our other two friends.

Tom is not terribly unwell, physically. Mostly he seems tired and pale, sleeping much and eating little. But by and large, he is doing as well as can be expected in his situation. There are times when he seems strangely frightened, by something no one else can see or hear. We suspect that she speaks to him, now and then, perhaps telling him to be patient and wait for her. Nemo has tried hypnotizing Tom as he did Carter, but gained no greater knowledge of her whereabouts. If we could but locate her, we could destroy her during the daylight hours as Mina's friend van Helsing did Dracula.

Skinner, by contrast, is rather ill. He burns with a fever, the origin of which Henry has not determined. His wounds, from both Kiya's fangs and the crocodile, have closed well enough, but Henry speculates that he may have sustained some sort of infection prior to their closing. He freely admits that he doesn't know whether that is even possible with a vampire bite, but we have few other clues. The fever came up suddenly, yesterday afternoon, and has not abated despite our best efforts.

By _our, _I mean Henry, Mina, and myself. As on previous occasions, Henry has asked Mina to assist him with the care of the three vampire victims. This time, however, he has consented to allow me to help as well, to what extent I am able. Mostly I have been following his directions to try and help bring down Skinner's fever.

My poor dear friend has been somewhat delirious. He mutters in his sleep now, and tosses about in the bedclothes from time to time. Once, while sitting at his bedside, I dozed off only to be awakened by his voice. He shouted my name, then dropped back to a mumble. "No....you... Bess...can't..." It frightens me to see him so.

* * *

**later**

I have actually been ordered away from the patients for a time. Skinner started shaking violently in his sleep just now, and gasping as though he could not breathe. I tried to rouse him, but to no avail. I called for Henry, who came on the run to try and ease his breathing.

"He's not responding," he said desperately.

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I found myself yelling at poor Skinner. I remember shouting, "Don't you dare leave us!" though if I shouted other words I no longer recall them. I honestly believed he might be dying. In any case, I truly lost my head and I don't blame Henry for sending me out.

I was surprised when Mina followed. I took a seat on the deck of the boat, staring at the bank and at the outline of the rest house where the trouble really began for us. She came to where I sat and stood quietly for a moment.

"It's torture, I know," she said at length.

"What is?"

She paused, and walked over to the railing. With her back to me, she continued, "Before Dracula ever began to feed on me, he was draining the life of my dearest friend, Lucy Westenra. I nursed her through what we all assumed was her final illness. Only later did we learn that she had turned to the undead, though to our eyes she appeared to die. Watching Lucy wither away was one of the hardest things I've ever done." She turned and looked at me. "So I have a rather good idea of what you're going through just now."

I wasn't entirely certain how to respond to that, so I settled for saying, "I'm sorry to hear of your friend's suffering."

She folded her arms; I was curiously reminded of one of my sterner schoolteachers. "Lucy has been dead for the better part of forty years. I have come to terms with my pain. You, on the other hand, are just beginning to feel it. I hope, as do we all, that Skinner will be spared, but I am not the optimist that Tom is. In any case, you shouting at him will certainly not help."

"No, I realize that...I was just..."

"I know." She cut me off sharply. "I understand. But it would be wise, I think, for you to not let such a thing happen again." She relaxed then, slightly, and waved me away. "Go back down. He needs you."

In point of fact, Henry did not really need me, but he gave me a tolerant smile while I apologised for the outburst. "The good news is, I think we may have turned a corner," he said. "He's not precisely better, but I have reason to believe he's not going to get any worse."

Good news is in rather short supply just now, so I will take this bit that I can and praise God for it.

* * *

**12 October 1899**

Today we may have reason to be hopeful! Shortly before sunrise, Tom, who had been sitting quietly in his bed and reading, dropped his book and called out for Nemo.

"I think, if you hypnotize me now, I can tell you something," he said anxiously when we had all come running. "I just have a funny feeling...there's a kind of prickling in my mind."

Never one to dismiss such unscientific matters out of hand, Nemo immediately performed the hypnotism and put Tom in a light trance.

"I am entering the tomb where I have lain for these many years," he said in a dull voice. "My coffin is open, but I am closing it all but a crack. Now I am changing to fit inside the small opening. They cannot find me here."

Kiya has been hiding in her own tomb all along, as we had surmised, but in a manner we did not expect. She has been adopting the form of a scarab, the jewel-bright beetle once used as ornamentation by her people, to avoid detection by the explorers and by us.

"Unbearably clever," said Nemo, "since we can't very well put a stake through a beetle's heart, as it has none."

Tom, his trance gone, wore a thoughtful expression. "Back home," he said, "one of the boys at my school went away to college. He studied bugs, brought home a huge collection. The bugs were mounted on pins inside glass boxes."

"A hatpin should do nicely," Mina agreed. "Once we stab her in that form, she must return to her normal state in order to recover from the injury. If she sleeps, this will happen on its own -- her body will engineer the change without her conscious knowledge. Then we can finish her in the usual way."

Nemo was already halfway out the door. "Mina, Henry -- we must act quickly. Let us not suffer this being to live another night."

"I want to go too," said Tom bleakly.

"No!" Mina snapped. "You could very well do as Carter did, and attempt to prevent us from killing her."

"Don't you understand? I want her dead!" He looked strangely young as he spoke. "You don't know...well, maybe _you _do, Mina, but the rest of you don't know...what she's done to me inside. What she took from me, what she forced me to take from her. She's in me. I can't get her out, I'll never get her out until she's dead." I could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.

The hard expression on Mina's face softened. "I know, Tom. Don't you think I know? But you're safer here, where you can't see what's happening. The sun is rising, and you'll sleep. When you wake, it will all be over." Indeed, even as she said this, he looked like he was dozing.

I looked at them questioningly. "Ought I to...?"

"To stay here. Be alert for any sudden changes," said Mina. "I think when she is dead, they will return to normal at once -- or in Skinner's case, as close as he's ever been," she added. Mirth has been rare in our company of late, and we all savoured the joke as though it were meat, and we were starving men.

* * *

**16 October 1899**

I have had little time to write in the past few days. Most of my waking hours are spent attempting to assist Henry, as he looks after his patients, or else amusing the patients to the best of my ability. He has insisted, however, that I take an hour or so for myself today, so I thought it best to bring this diary up to speed on all that has happened.

Dr. Carter and Tom slept throughout the entire ordeal. I believe Skinner slept for a large part of it as well, though I can never be entirely certain -- his eyes and eyelids are, after all, transparent. All was quiet.

In the tomb, Henry transformed into Edward in order to provide the strength needed to open the heavy stone coffin. He wrenched off the lid and, aided by torches, they searched the corners for the sleeping scarab. The metallic blue shell caught the firelight brilliantly. Mina pulled a pin from her hat and, with a neat jab, skewered the insect.

A strange shrieking seemed to emanate from the very walls of the tomb as Kiya resumed her true form. She lay in perfect repose, arms crossed over her chest. In a crisp, almost businesslike manner, Mina positioned the stake over the heart and ordered Edward to hammer it into place. Then Nemo severed the monster's beautiful head from her body, and the task was nearly finished. All that remained was to carry the corpse outside and set fire to it.

At what I can only assume was the precise moment the stake pierced her heart, Tom and Dr. Carter both gasped in their sleep and sat up, fully awake. The colour seemed to come rushing back into their pale faces, and almost at once, they both dropped back onto their pillows and began to sleep once more. No more was it the deathlike sleep of the days previous, however, but a natural, human slumber.

Skinner, too, came awake at that moment, and began to wheeze. Of course, no visible colour returned to his skin, but he clutched at his chest where she had first bitten him. He appeared to be choking.

I ran to his side and asked him urgently what was wrong. He seemed incapable of answering me, only continued to shake and gasp. He still had one hand pressed to the wound, and the other grasped at the open air. I seized this hand and clung to it, terrified, trying to guess how best to help him.

Abruptly, he stopped writhing and fell backwards. He lay as one dead on the cot for a few minutes. The hand I held in my own was limp.

"R-Rodney?" I asked tentatively. I had never addressed him by his Christian name before, and perhaps this shocked him a bit. His head turned sharply in my direction, startling me.

"Bess?" The voice was weak yet, but stronger than it had been. He put his hand up to my face.

"I'm here."

"Bess...I think we won."

"Funny," I said lightly, hoping he wouldn't notice how close I was to weeping, "I think you're right."

* * *

**11 October 1899**

All three of the patients continue to do well. Dr. Carter has made the swiftest recovery, and happily, he seems to have no memory of the time he spent under Kiya's control. Henry has convinced him that he and Tom have, like Skinner, been ill for several days with a violent fever. Another few days of bed rest and he should be well enough to make his trip to Upper Egypt; once he has recovered and left our company, we will return to Alexandria and, from there, to the _Nautilus_.

Tom is envious of Dr. Carter; he wishes that he too could simply forget it all. Skinner retains just bits and pieces of his memory of events. Since he actually was afflicted with the fever, and was coherent only part of the time, this is to be expected.

We have now fully traded accounts of everything that happened on that night, and everyone in the League knows the full story. After Edward killed Kiya, and Nemo separated her head from her body, they built a bonfire in the sand. Within an hour of her death, the vampire had been reduced to nothing more than smoke and memory. They reeked of it when they returned; Henry (his formula having been used up) was covered in Kiya's blood.

Mina seems rather subdued. Even though Kiya's destruction was absolutely necessary, I think she found it nevertheless difficult to watch. I don't believe it is her fate; I can't imagine her ever giving in to the desire for innocent blood. Yet on the other hand, she may someday tire of immortality -- and the sentence they passed on Kiya may be the only way she can end it. I can see why that would disturb her deeply.

In any case, she has been spending more and more time alone with Henry. The whole incident seems to have brought them closer than ever.

* * *

**14 October 1899**

Today we bade farewell to Dr. Carter. He is almost fully recovered from his recent "illness" and is quite anxious to begin his work in Upper Egypt. Owing to our curious gypsy lifestyle, it would be hard to maintain written correspondence with our friend, but we have promised to seek him out if ever we return to Egypt.

Skinner, too, is quite well, as is Tom. I believe Tom's memory has not faded any further, much as we all might desire that for him. He has not confided in me on this particular issue, but I suspect he feels somehow guilty and unclean. I imagine I would probably feel likewise, had I been in his position. I am afraid it will be a long time before he forgives himself.

Skinner has been a bit sketchy on a few details, so I extended to him a privilege I have never granted anyone else. I permitted him to read the entries in this diary pertaining to the events of the days while he was ill. This seems to have given him a better understanding of all that has happened. It has also given us an excuse to resume what has become our customary banter.

"You called me Rodney?" he asked with a grin. "I only let my mother call me Rodney, and only on her birthday."

"I was going for the element of surprise. I won't do it again."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me if you do it or not, Bess. Call me whatever you want." He finished reading, then, roguishly, made as though to read earlier entries.

"Give me that!" I took the book away from him.

"Ooh, right, don't want me to see where you've written down your unending devotion to your true love." I was glad he was being silly again, because it meant he was being himself, but I swatted him anyway.

"I haven't got a true love, thank you."

"What! Not planning to elope with Nemo?"

I admit he startled me there, for usually his jokes about my romantic prospects are centred on Tom. "No, as a matter of fact, I wasn't." Feeling that I owed him a bit of surprise myself, I added, "But it's not a bad idea, come to think of it."

He snorted. "The day you run off with the captain is probably the day he lets me pilot the sub." I had to laugh at the picture of Skinner actually being allowed to control the _Nautilus_; Nemo would sooner blow her out of the water than relinquish control of his precious "lady."

* * *

**18 October 1899**

We made better time returning to Alexandria than we did leaving it, owing partly to the fact that this time we sailed with the river's current instead of against it. Nemo has returned the boats to their owner, while the rest of us went back to the same marketplace we visited on our first visit.

I am mindful that Christmas is approaching in the none-too-distant future, and am trying to think of gifts I can prepare for my friends; I realize that some of them -- Nemo especially -- may not observe the holiday as I do, but I see no harm in presenting them each with a small gift. I am having difficulty coming up with ideas, but have decided to start work on the first. I purchased some men's handkerchiefs, made from fine Egyptian linen, and plan to monogram them with one of the men's initials. I hope that ideas for gifts for the others come quickly.

We ate one last luncheon in Alexandria, enjoying some of the local cuisine. The farmers here grow pomegranates and figs, so we had a fair few of those; we also sampled some excellent wild game. While we ate, we discussed our next venture; it was agreed that, since we are in the Mediterranean, it made sense to visit Greece before setting off for America.

Then we returned to the _Nautilus_ -- how good it felt to come home!

* * *

_Here ends this stage of Miss Elizabeth Quatermain's adventures with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Look for further mystery and mayhem in volume three, "The Wintering."_


	8. The Volume 2 FAQ

**The Private Diary of Elizabeth Quatermain, volume II: Author's Notes and Acknowledgements**

This is the part of the story, as you may remember from the original, where I explain things that weren't necessarily made crystal clear in Elizabeth's diary. If you have a question that isn't answered here, leave it in a review/comment and I'll update the FAQ to include the answer.

* * *

**About this whole sordid plot**

_When exactly was Tom in Egypt before this?_

In the second novel in the Sawyer trilogy, _Tom Sawyer Abroad_. Tom, Huck, and the former slave Jim are accidentally sent on a trip around the world in a hot-air balloon. Egypt is among their final destinations.

_Wasn't Dr. Howard Carter a real person?_

He was indeed. Dr. Carter (1874-1939) was one of England's most famous Egyptologists. His greatest fame was earned in the discovery of King Tut's tomb, in 1922. He appears quite without anyone's consent, but seeing as he's long gone, I didn't think he'd mind.

_What's the story behind the Tomb of the Door of the Horse?_

The Tomb of the Door of the Horse (or the Tomb of Bab el Hosan, as they call it in Egypt) was discovered in 1899, in precisely the manner described in the story. I was researching events in Egyptology which took place in that year, and when I read about that particular discovery, the whole setup was just too interesting not to use. The actual purpose of the empty coffin has never been determined; the statue, while not confirmed, is believed to represent Mentuhotep, the first pharaoh of the second dynasty. The statue's function, like that of the coffin, remains a mystery, and it can be seen in the Cairo Museum.

_Why does Elizabeth give so much bloody detail about Egyptian history?_

She's learning things, and wants to remember them. Don't forget, too, that her father wrote books about his own exploits, and was rather meticulous in his detailing. Like father, like daughter, in this respect.

_Why couldn't they visit the Greco-Roman Museum? Is it real?_

Yup, it's real. The museum really was being enlarged in 1899. I couldn't imagine a group of intelligent, well-educated people (especially Nemo) visiting Alexandria and not paying a visit to such a place of learning, but knowing little about the museum, I didn't know if I could accurately describe it. When I read that it was under reconstruction in the year our group was in the vicinity, I decided that was a good reason to have them not go.

_So...what's going on in Elizabeth's love life?_

I'm not giving away any more information. The final plan has already changed no less than four times from what I originally intended. I think I know now what's going to happen, but I'm not saying anything in case it changes again!

_Speaking of love lives, what did happen with Tom and Kiya in the coffin?_

That's a rather indelicate question, don't you think? Let's put it this way: What do you think happened? Well, then, that's what happened. As for Elizabeth, being the proper Victorian sort she is, she'd just as soon not know.

_How many more sequels can we expect?_

At least two. I was going to send the League straight to America from Egypt, but it seemed much more likely that they would hang out in the Mediterranean area first. So they're going to hop over to Greece while they're in the neighborhood.

* * *

**Credits, thanks, and all that jazz**

The basic premise of this story is based upon the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, released in theaters July 11, 2003. The film in turn was based on the series of graphic novels of the same name by Alan Moore. In a general sort of way, everything you read in this story is the property of the much more clever people who were involved in those two projects, and I made absolutely no financial profit from the use thereof. The only thing I can lay legitimate claim to is the personality of Elizabeth -- though she says that she is perfectly capable of owning that herself, thank you very much -- and also the evil vampire, Kiya.

The characters of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde are from _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde _by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The character of Wilhelmina Harker is from _Dracula _by Bram Stoker.

The character of Allan Quatermain is from _King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain, The Ivory Child_, and other stories and novels by H. Rider Haggard.

The character of Captain Nemo and his amazing _Nautilus _are from _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea _by Jules Verne.

The character of Rodney Skinner is patterned, loosely, after the original Invisible Man, from the book _The Invisible Man _by H. G. Wells. Personally, I prefer Skinner's company, but that's just me.

The character of Tom "Special Agent" Sawyer is from_ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer Abroad, _and _Tom Sawyer, Detective_, all by Mark Twain.

Pretty much all of the information regarding Egyptian history and culture which is found in Elizabeth's diary was provided by the manuals which accompany Pharaoh, an excellent city-building computer game produced by the Sierra Company (copyright 1999). The game was also the source for Kiya's name; Kiya was a common Egyptian woman's name in ancient times.

Special thanks are rendered to my best friend, Jessica, who read this story first, and another close friend, Christy, who is probably Elizabeth's biggest fan. (She kept threatening my life if I didn't finish the story.) Thanks also go out to assorted members of the LXG fandom; these include Settiai, who runs the League of Extraordinary Fanfiction website, and loyal reviewers including LotRSeer, MissKathleen, Graymoon, Crystal, and many others. These stories could not take on quite the life they have if not for people like all of you, reading and reviewing and helping me to make it better. I also have to once again thank my friend Plunder, who -- in that way that only writers understand -- had one of her own characters speak to one of mine and tell him honestly when he was behaving like a schmuck.

First Egypt, now Greece...well, at least I'm learning things as I go. I suppose one could make the argument that fan fiction like this has educational merit, for me if no one else. As ever, cheers, my freaky darlings!

_Lady Norbert_


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